Autograph letter signed, to his parents, detailing the tragic death of his older brother Henry
- 3pp., with integral address leaf. 4to
- Boston , 1815
Boston, 1815. 3pp., with integral address leaf. 4to. Usual folds. 3pp., with integral address leaf. 4to. Bigelow (1787-1879), noted early American physician and botanist. After studying under Benjamin Smith Barton and practicing with James Jackson, Bigelow was appointed professor in materia medica and botany at Harvard. In 1817 he began to publish his monumental three-volume American Medical Botany, noted as the first American book with color printing.
In a lengthy postscript in this letter to his parents in Sudbury he details the death of his brother Henry in a military training accident during a cavalry execise near Balitmore in which Henry was attempting to stop a charging horse with the opening of an umbrella, but was struck in the chest "which rendered him instantly senseless. He was carried home and every assistance rendered but without any effect in restoring his senses. He died at 7 next morning and was interred in the graveyard of the Presbyterian church..." In 1818 Bigelow would name his son Henry.
In a lengthy postscript in this letter to his parents in Sudbury he details the death of his brother Henry in a military training accident during a cavalry execise near Balitmore in which Henry was attempting to stop a charging horse with the opening of an umbrella, but was struck in the chest "which rendered him instantly senseless. He was carried home and every assistance rendered but without any effect in restoring his senses. He died at 7 next morning and was interred in the graveyard of the Presbyterian church..." In 1818 Bigelow would name his son Henry.